Dellis

Due to player Shard not posting, the active turn passes to another player, which will be notified shortly.

GM MODERATION:

Keith, Akua, and Nikki may now post their reactions to what happened, but it isn't mandatory. They may not take further actions, though, since they are not Active Players. The next Active Player will be Garou, which due to being on the second inactivity strike has a little longer to post. 4 days, starting from this post's date.

Dice Roll Action 2 - Wing Thrust - Targets, Aisu and Keith

Dice Roll Action 1 - Beak Attack - Target Nikki

The Atherial let out a deafening shriek, as Keith's blade cut through its flesh.

He reared a bit, still keeping himself between them and the nest, in which two little golden eggs could be seen in the distance.

It did not have time to recover from the attack. Nikki dashed forward blindingly fast, thrusting her spear right into the creature's body, before retreating.

In blind hatred, the giant bird swung once, twice with its clawed wings, Nikki evading all the attacks, until finally catching her off guard with a thrust from its massive beak. The floor cracked under the sheer force of the hit, Nikki's bones threatening to snap under the hit. She saw her health bar drop a bit.

Noticing the opening, Akua tried to attack him in the side, but the Atherial thrashing wildly prevented her hit from connecting. She was now in the open, undefended, in front of the Atherial, which turned slowly towards her, with murderous rage in its eyes.

Sensing her companion in danger, the Snow Leopard, Aisu, leaped to protect her, hitting the Atherial in the side and distracting him just enough for him to change focus.

Its orange terrible eyes shifting madly, never stopping once, the Atherial screeched at the Panther, and made a powerful thrust with both his wings.

The gust of wind, so concentrated it was almost visible, aimed right at Aisu, and threatened to hit Keith too.

Luckily, the leopard's nimbleness helped him get out of the way, and Keith followed soon after. If they had been hit, they probably wouldn't have suffered any damage, but they would have been pushed away, and when you're fighting on top of a tower, that could be dangerous.

Due to the damage, the Atherial's four health bars showed up. The first one had begun emptying, but there was still a lot of way to go to finally defeat the monster.

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Atherial HP: 27/30

Nikki: 1 HP Damage, please record it in your next post

Aisu and Keith: Missed

GM MODERATION

Due to Player Garou not posting for two days, the next turn passes to Akua.

Gm Moderation:

Good job keith, thanks for having shown to the others how a combat post is done.

One point though - there is a fixed list for action results in boss fights, so you cannot make up your own.

Your action is still valid, but I need to tell this for future reference, so other players use it.

It's 1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

The next Active Player will be notified shortly!

The night before the fight, it had been a stormy night.

Floor seven was usually like that, but the winds had been much stronger than normal, and the very wood that the inn was built off screeched lightly under its sheer force.

Under the roof of the inn, ten people couldn't sleep, kept awake by the noise... or the fear.

In the distance, a high pitched scream could be heard, its sound carried and deformed by the wind.

The Atherial had awoken.

The journey to his location hadn't been an easy one. On top of all the lesser monsters found roaming the floor, the Atherial had chosen the top of a secluded tower to make its nest.

Still, their guide, a young girl named Eri, had tried to cheer them up while they all climbed floor after floor of the tower, avoiding the traps. There had been no monsters in the tower, but only traps.

They weren't directly lethal... but they all threatened to push you out of a window, or crush through the wall to send you flying down the tower. That would mean death, at that height.

And after going to great lenghts... they were at the top. The Atherial was nowhere to be seen...

Eri motioned for all his followers to stop.

"Hold on", she said in a clear voice, holding out her two-handed axe, "I'm gonna check if it's near."

She took a step towards the nest.

A blue blur, a thunderclap, the wind suddendly blowing as strong as a shockwave.

In a wake of blue sparks, Eri was sent flying to the edge of the tower, now unconscious.

In her place, the Atherial waited the challengers.

While the skies suddendly darkened anormally, and a blue circle appeared around the tower, signaling the start of the boss fight, the Atherial stared at the participants with threatening eyes.

Blue sparks started coiling around the Atherial's body in the darkness.

The Atherial screeched.

SPOILER: Next Turn

The first Turn is Keith Yudai's turn! You may act.

A little reminder of the rules - two days to post. One post you describe the action, the other you only roll the dice, then modify the first post with the outcome, like the monster battle guidelines state.

If you've got any questions, you may send them to me by PM.

The Atherial's health will be visible once you first damage him, remember to keep track of your own.

Good Luck, Players!

Aqua joins the fight at the last moment, and the MISSION STARTS!

As soon as I get home, you'll find the thread in the floors 1-10 section, with a [F7-MB] prefix, as in Monthly Boss.

All current participants will get a PM to remind them of the battle, and the link to it.

Good luck to all of you!!

Remember, the Atherial's description states he won't get far from his nest if threatened. He won't take off during the battle, not as long as you have a surefire way not to make him to.

Don't worry, every gameplay aspect such as this one's been sorted out prior to deciding what the boss was!

On a side note, four more people join the battle!

The Atherial's verse can be heard throughout the seventh floor, carried by a strong stormy wind... the fight grows nearer...

ENROLLMENT IS STILL OPEN

And will be until the 1st of April, but spots are quickly filling up. Be sure not to lose your chance!

Two more people have joined the fight. Welcome Shanok and Hunter Yagami to the team.

The Atherial grows restless...

ENROLLMENT IS STILL OPEN

and will be till the 1st of april!

Hi all, GM Dellis here.

Enrollment for this battle is still open

and will be until the 1st of april. If by that date no one more has joined yet, the battle will start with the current participants. Do not worry, since boss health and damage will be tweaked to make the battle balanced for the number of players participating.

Good luck!

Good day to all the Players!

As you all know, the proposal that asked us GM to run a monthly boss event has passed, and we've been working on that.

So, I'm happy to announce that this month you will be fighting the

As with all boss events, there will be prizes. Rare Items, equipments, materials and the such, for all the daring that... dare (sorry for the bad pun) to fight the Atherial, on its looming nest on floor seven.

Yet, remember this is SAO - the grim reaper will get you, if you die in game. As with all boss battles, permanent death is enforced.

Now, you'll probably be asking yourself how to enroll to this particular event.

Just send me a PM and I'll happily oblige to add you to the list of participants.

A few OOC rules:

As with all boss battles, this will be heavily organized by the GM in charge.

The turnation will be posted in the boss fight topic, and set in compliance to the guidelines for boss fights posted by the staff here: http://www.sao-rpg.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1185

If it is your turn, and you do not post for two days, you lose your turn, so as not to freeze completely the boss fight.

If you lose your turn twice, you are considered forfeit - your character's run away, doesn't want to fight anymore and whatnot. That's for the same reason.

I cannot stress this enough - Death is permanent. It won't probably happen, but better safe than sorry, right?

I'll keep track of all your health bars, as well as the Atherial's. All the same, please keep tracking your current health at the end of your posts, so it's easier for me to check.

Well, I guess that's all, for now. Remember to apply by PM, if you want to participate. Once we reach a decent quota of participants, I'll make the event start and link you all the topic by PM.

Participants:

Keith Yudai

Nikki Styx

Shard

Shanok

Hunter Yagami

Garou

Swift

Daeron

Darius Verand

Good day, GM Dellis here.

We're now implementing the Money System, based on proposals from the Support and Feedback section.

This post is to give you an overview about how that works, while a more in depth tutorial will be posted soon.

EDIT: Here's the Tutorial! It's the last post of this page. viewtopic.php?f=20&t=735

The core of the system is that by completing RPs, you gain Col.

Col is the money unit for SAO – you will be able to use them to buy some utility items at NPC shops that we’ll open shortly in a sticky thread in the Floors 1-10 section.

Needless to say, you can use them to buy items from other players too, specifically in player run shops.

To gain Col, you need to complete RPs. When you complete an RP, you can edit your journal adding to your inventory the amount of Col you earned.

To determine the amount of Col you earn from a particular RP, you must follow this set of rules.

1-You gain 400 col per page of a topic.

2-Standard creatures drop 5 x loot roll of the post in which they are defeated.

3-Bosses drop 10 x loot roll of the post in which they are defeated.

4-You divide the amount between the participants to the battle.

5-Only Standard Monsters whose health is at least half of the highest leveled player's health in the topic give this reward

6-Only Bosses whose health is equal or higher to the highest leveled player's health in the topic give this reward.

When you buy something from an NPC shop, or a player shop, you must record the transaction at the end of your journal. Just create a “Recorded Transactions†section. This is so us GM can check if players are cheating.

At the moment, NPC shops haven’t been posted yet. When they do, this tutorial will be edited showing links to them.

At NPC shops you can buy bombs, crystals, poisons and the like, but not weapons or food or the like. That is to leave work to Player shops.

The further you go into unlocking floors, the more items will appear. This is since the difficulty of the game gets higher, you unlock better items at shops, just like in normal RPGs.

Well, that’s all! It may seem difficult to understand, but it’s actually very simple when in use, so be sure to check the Tutorial section for updates.

The new slivers, M14, they were tough for a week.. now every sliver deck I see gets eaten alive. They are less intimidating.

Back before though if you had two sliver decks squaring off it would be stupid. Back then slivers abilities buffed all slivers, not just the ones you controlled. It would come down to who could drop the most slivers as everything was the same.

That's exactly the slivers I used. Buffed all slivers in play. Thankfully, I never had an opponent that had slivers too. That would have been... uh, interesting xD

The pig goes "oink oink"

The cow goes "mooo"

The horse goes "neighhhh"

The dog goes " ed...ward"

I... had forgot that scene.

It's almost a federal offense to make someone remember it.

He turned up to look at his customers.

Another boy had entered the room, by the time he had waved off Nikki.

"Are you... Dellis...?" The young boy asked in a low voice. He seemed to be quite shy.

"Sure, it's me. What can I do for you?" He asked, smiling.

He placed a paper in his hands. He scanned it quickly.

"I... I don't have the materials..." began the young man. "But... I could get them for you if you accept... the commission..." He concluded, staying silent for a bit.

He raised his eyes from the piece of paper.

"Hmmm... sure, I can do that. As you said, though, i'll need the materials." He paused.

"Every material's gonna be fine. I'll just exchange them for the materials I specifically need for your request later. This way, it's easier for you to find some." He concluded.

"Ah, Atlus, that's true for you too. I can craft you the katana you asked for, though you need to bring me a little more materials than him. For daggers, four materials are usually fine, accounting for failures. For swords, especially katanas, i'll need at least 8." He told them.

"If I manage to get some myself, i'll be using them towards the orders, but Swift's order comes first in the line." he precised.

"I'll be waiting for you. Please feel free to come back to the store every time you need!" he told the two.

Dellis visibly relaxed noticing Shard losing his hard expression a bit.

*He's still quite wary and serious, but I guess that's to be expected, in a game like this. I kinda freaked out too, even if we're in a safe area, so I guess it's understandable.* He thought, glancing at Kaya for a moment.

"What can I get you, Players?" asked Kaya, from behind the counter, smiling. She interrupted his train of thoughts.

He stared at her hazel eyes. Sometimes, it was easy to forget she was an NPC.

He had always treated NPCs like real people... as he did with Izzy. He didn't percieve much the difference. Not between this world and reality, not between its people and the ones he knew before. They were both just as real to him.

"Want a beer? It's on me." Shard's voice sounding loud in the void room.

He nodded. "Sure. We may as well speak while we drink some." He stated, deciding not to mention that he didn't drink alcohol, and for good reasons.

"Well, what should we start from?" He asked him, while Kaya brought them two glasses of red ale.

"I've already some expertise in many fields. To a starting blacksmith i'd lose two or more hours speaking about the crafting processes, and how to get your shop up and running and what not, but we can avoid that." he smiled.

"So, shoot. By the way, there's a reason I decided that the meeting place would be this Inn in floor seven, but more on that later."

He took a sip off his beer, trying to act cool.

That was ruined by him almost choking down on it, but hey, not everything goes like planned, right?

I used to play that. Not much, but a bit.

Had a green white deck xD

I even tried to do... uhm, how were they called in your version, slivers? A sliver deck xD

Dellis watched with the corner of his eye as Nikki took Izzy's Scales and equipped it.

"You have no idea how much I appreciate this... I promise Ill protect it as well as it protects me." He heard the girl's clear voice say in the stall.

"I know, Nikki. I'm sure you will." He smiled.

They remained silent for a second.

"I've played a lot of games, many of which were contests with much at stake... I've never been afraid of losing, until now that is. But this... and you.. and yer confidence... I'm not so afraid anymore"

He watched, struck, as he saw a single tear roll down her cheek. When she finally smiled, it was like the sun after the rain.

He was at a loss of words.

For such a little thing?

He opened his mouth, then closed it. He paused for two seconds, looking in her eyes, then spoke a single word. "Thanks."

And as soon as he said that, he knew it was the right one.

She wiped her face, still smiling, and called out to him.

"I've got to run... I'll be back soon I promise... Wish me luck." She said, with a happier voice, full of light.

He waved. "Don't worry! Go! And kick that monster where the sun doesn't shine!" He joked. "Every time i'll get to floor 8, i'll remember who made it possible. It was you. Now go, go! Good luck!" He shouted, behind her, as she ran again down the alleyway.

He thought about when he had lost hope.

He had thought that... if there was no one that wanted to help others, if all of the players continued to be selfish and egoistical... they'd never get out of this game.

Now he stood a chance, they all did.

The big stranger watched his show almost impassibly, if not for a little twitch of the mouth.

Then, he offered his arm to help him get back up.

He took his hand, and felt himself almost thrown airborne by his strenght.

Staggering a bit, he managed to sit on the stool again.

"Thanks, sorry about that." He managed to utter, shocked.

"I saw the flyers on the second floor," the stranger started, "I'm a smith. Opened my shop not long ago."

Dellis opened his eyes wide. He had been holed up here for a week, so he didn't know anyone else had opened a shop.

"Well, It's good to know there are other blacksmiths out there, I was starting to lose hope." he uttered, still looking at him warily.

The huge stranger leaned on the table, probably trying to feel less threatening, but only causing Dellis to feel more like Izzy in front of a giant.

"Shard. I'm Shard." He said.

"Well, pleased to meet you, Shard." He said. "I'm Dellis... wait, you already know that." He added, quite uselessly.

"And this one here..." he paused, reaching for the backpack, and pulling out a quite indignated lizard, "... Is Izzy, my companion. Bit sarcastic, sometimes, but a good lizard nonetheless." He concluded.

*NOOOO HE'S GONNA EAT ME! HE'S GONNA REALLY COOK ME IN A PLATE NOT LIKE YOU, YOU'RE ALL TALK HE'S NOT!* thought squirming the lizard. *Oh, Sweet Great Lizard, save me! Mom didn't raise me to become lizard macramè!*

"Macramè isn't something you eat, you stupid lizard!" Dellis whispered to the little lizard. "Though it does sound delicious... Anyway! There's n... nothing to worry about." he sentenced, while very coherently moving the stool a bit further away.

As an answer, she bit his finger and ran towards Kaya, hiding behind her.

"If you won't work as your meatshield job requires, i'll find another one." She said.

"Ssshh--sssh.....SSSSsshh... ssssh." They heard.

*I swear, you're becoming fixated on anchovies. You eat insects, you dumb reptile!* thought Dellis, who obviously didn't understand lizard tongue, even if he'd like that.

He gave a furtive look at Shard, which continued to stare with an undeciferable expression. He hoped he hadn't noticed the exchange, the last thing he needed was for him to think he thought he could speak to lizards.

He breathed deeply, then resolved to try and stay calm for the moment.

He turned back to him, now serious. "Well, thanks for having come here." He said, fidgeting. "I'll try to answer every doubt you might have, and give you some pointers." he added.

"Well, even if you'll probably know all the basics, judging from the fact that you've already opened your shop." he smiled.

"Still, I think there are still some things I can teach you that you could benefit from." He concluded, looking at him.

In the corner of the shop, Izzy peeked from behind the counter.

*I wonder how dellis macramè tastes like.* She thought.

Dellis sat back down, while the two girls were preparing tea for themselves.

"Well, at least tea has some caffeine too, it should get you back on your feet. At least, some."

He paused, thinking a bit about it.

"Well, that is if this game's been coded well. It's actually no caffeine, just a stream of binary code." He added.

"Still, a tasty stream." He joked.

Another man entered the store, asking for a katana.

He answered smiling. "Sure! It'll take long though, i'm overcome with orders at the moment, and I've got no materials with which to craft. As always, I can give you a list of materials to find. Just say so!"

He got back to the crafting table, and took a furtive glance at the silent girl. She seemed to be very polite, and yet did not speak a word in response to him. Maybe she didn't like to speak. Anyways, he kind of liked that. Silent people are the ones who, when in the end they speak, are the smartest ones.

He decided to address her, nonetheless. "Don't worry, miss, you're next in the line, so it won't be long.

In that moment, the door opened, and Nikki came in.

She was the kind, quiet girl who had asked for a spear some time ago. She had his letter in hand...

"Hey, Nikki!" He greeted the young girl, smiling. "Come on in, don't worry!"

He saw the young girl was trembling, ever so slightly, clutching his letter. He thought that was cute.

Without a word, he opened the inventory, and took off Izzy's Scales. Moments later, it appeared in his hands, with a blue flash.

"Here it is." He said, smiling. "Come on, take it, don't worry!" He added.

The young girl had offered everything in exchange to him, for lending her his shield. And yet he had took nothing.

"I really hope it will be helpful to you. A shield's job is protecting people like you. If it does that in my hands, or in yours... it has fulfilled its job nonetheless."

Seeing her quiver still, he decided to add something. He lowered his voice, so that only she could hear, and said "You know why I'm not worried? It's because I know you're gonna come back, alive. You were ready to give everything to get a shield... to fight a boss in the frontlines, endangering your life to save others."

He paused.

"Those who sacrifice themselves for the others... are worthy of trust." He smiled again, and then got back to the crafting table.

*You're gonna give her my Scales, then?* Thought Izzy, on his shoulder.

"I am. She deserves a chance, doesn't she? Plus, she asked nicely." He whispered to the little lizard.

*... I'm not gonna ask.* joked the sarcastic little reptile.

"HEY! Not that way! You idiot lizard." He laughed, making a scene of smashing her with an hammer.

-----------------

Given Item to Nikki Styx

This shield is made of scales, translucent and gleaming like gemstones. It seems very sturdy, but also very lightweight, just as gemstones and scales are. Under direct sunlight, it divides light, creating little rainbows around it. It is a round shield, but its shape isn't totally round, since the scales at the edges are irregular and create little bumps and squares. The center gemstone is, oddly, the same colour as cream.

Dellis went to the obelisk that had appeared for the event.

As he stepped nearer to it, he began to have second thoughts. *Well, knowing my luck it'll just explode in my hands without giving me anything.* he said to himself.

Izzy, on the other hand, had no second or even first thoughts. She had quite wisely holed up in his backpack, and bit him every time he tried to bring it nearer to the Obelisk, so he had resolved to leave it a bit away.

*You're not gonna burn THIS one too.* thought the little lizard, watching him from a safe distance.

He put his hands on the obelisk.

(OOC: I actually imagine him very similar to my avatar, with green eyes instead of blue though. I'll add a description in the journal this night, though. Sorry for the delay in posting!! ç_ç)

Dellis' mind had since floated away when the big man came in, so he never noticed his entrance till he spoke.

"You, Dellis?" said the very high stranger.

"WOAH!" He screamed, almost falling down from the chair. "Yes it's me what did I do wrong?!?" He asked, almost frantically.

*He's a giant!* were his first thoughts.

*Let's hope he's here to kill you,* were Izzy's.

He stared at the stranger for a moment, trying to memorize his appearance. He did that with every new person he met.

*Ah, now I get it, he must be here for the flyers!* He thought.

As he took breath to begin speaking, Izzy fled to the backpack, as if to say ' If you make him angry, YOU deal with him.'

"Yes, it's me." He said smiling. "And you're here for the flyers, I assume, so you must be a blacksmith, right?" He asked.

He was a bit nervous about speaking to him, or even teaching him things, so he figured he'd do a bit of conversation first to get things going.